Aviation: Ministerial Meetings

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On how many occasions Ministers and officials from the Department for Transport have met with representatives of Flying Matters since January 2006.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: We have no record of any such meetings having taken place.

Aviation: Research Projects

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether there is a prohibition on the Civil Aviation Authority contacting current and former pilots to ask them to participate in a research project for which ethical approval has been obtained.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Section 23(1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 provides that no information which relates to a particular person and has been furnished to the CAA in pursuance of an Air Navigation Order shall be disclosed by the CAA except in certain specified circumstances which include the consent in writing of the person concerned. While the CAA would not be prohibited from writing to pilots to ask them to participate in a research project, the CAA would be prohibited from releasing pilots' addresses to a third party for this purpose.

British Citizenship

Lord Goodhart: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Citizenship, Immigration and Borders Bill, included in their draft legislative programme for 2008—09, will give effect to their undertaking, given in the debate on the UK Borders Bill on 11 October 2007, to enable children born outside the United Kingdom between 1 January 1949 and 7 February 1961 inclusive to obtain British citizenship if their mother (but not their father) was a British citizen at the date of their birth.

Lord West of Spithead: Amendments to Section 4C of the British Nationality Act 1981, to remove the requirement for a person applying for registration under that section to have been born after 7 February 1961, will be amended at the earliest appropriate legislative opportunity.

British Coal Compensation

Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they have made of the fine of £495,000 imposed by the Legal Services Complaints Commission on the Law Society for its complaints handling plans for the Legal Complaints Service and Solicitors Regulation Authority between 2007 and 2009; and whether an external management team should be brought in to supervise and manage the regulatory operation pending the transfer of such responsibility to the Office for Legal Complaints.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government appointed the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner in 2004 as an independent regulator of the Law Society's complaints handling functions and the Government do not intervene in the decisions of the Commissioner. However, it remains the Government's view that the Law Society and LSCC should work together effectively to deliver sustainable improvements for consumers.
	The Government recognise that, with the encouragement of the Commissioner, the LCS has made significant improvements in its complaints handling. It will be important that this standard of service is maintained in order to facilitate the smooth transition to the new regime established by the Legal Services Act 2007.
	The Office for Legal Complaints will be a completely new organisation that is independent of the legal professions. Therefore, once the Office for Legal Complaints becomes fully operational, the professional bodies' own arrangements for handling complaints will cease and the government bodies with oversight of these—the Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman (OLSO) and the Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (OLSCC)—will no longer be required.
	Based on current planning assumptions, the OLC will become fully operational in late 2010, the OLSCC will close in March 2010 and the OLSO will close no earlier than December 2010.

British Coal Compensation

Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Law Society has complied with the direction of the Legal Services Complaints Commission to give notice by 13 June of the date when it will pay the Ministry of Justice £275,000 in discharge of the penalty imposed by the Commissioner.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government appointed the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (LSCC) in 2004 as an independent regulator of the Law Society's complaints handling function and her decisions or directions are a matter solely for the Commissioner. However, we understand from the Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner that as at close of play on the 13 June a response had not been received.

British Coal Compensation

Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they have made of whether the Legal Complaints Service has operated in breach of the Miners' Compensation Claims—Policy Statement issued by the Compliance Board of the Law Society on 15 January 2004, as reaffirmed by the chairman of the Regulation Board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the chairman of the Consumer Complaints Board of the Legal Complaints Service.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government appointed the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (LSCC) in 2004 as an independent regulator of the Law Society's complaints handling function. The Government do not have a role to intervene directly in the affairs of the Law Society. The Commissioner has powers to make recommendations to the Law Society and Issue 10 of the Commissioner's Special Report stated:
	"The LCS Board should now review both the 2004 policy of the Law Society and its overarching policy of allowing complaints in "exceptional circumstances", and produce a more pragmatic policy to accept all legitimate complaints from miners".
	It is for the Commissioner to assess whether this recommendation has been followed.
	The department is in regular contact with the Law Society to ensure that it continues to make progress in dealing with complaints against solicitors' handling of coal health cases.

British Coal Compensation

Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they plan to meet the Legal Services Ombudsman and Legal Services Complaints Commissioner in order to review the performance of the Law Society, in particular the Legal Complaints Service and Solicitors Regulation Authority, in the British Coal litigation.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government appointed the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (LSCC) in 2004 as an independent regulator of the Law Society's complaints handling function. The Government do not have a role to intervene directly in the affairs of the Law Society. However, it remains the Government's view that the Law Society and LSCC should work together effectively to deliver continued and sustainable improvements for consumers. The Government have encouraged the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner and the Law Society to be involved in a conciliation process with a third party in order to deliver an agreed new plan for complaints handling.
	Both the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will continue to work with the LCS, the LSCC, the Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO), coalfield MPs and other bodies, to ensure that all claimants under the coal health scheme understand their rights to redress through the LCS where deductions have been made wrongfully from their compensation awards.

British Coal Compensation

Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 21 April (WA 222—3) concerning the Rother Valley Pilot and retired miners' complaints against solicitors in the British Coal litigation, whether the Answer took account of the findings of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner that the figures for miners' complaints provided by the Legal Complaints Service increased not because of awareness raising, but because of complaints made through a Member of Parliament.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: It is our understanding that, in collecting data on miners' complaints, the Legal Complaints Services did not differentiate between those complaints that resulted from the Rother Valley initiative and those that had been brought in other circumstances.
	The Legal Services Complaints Commissioner, in her report, believed that the way the LCS had set up its monitoring systems had shortcomings and that the tracking of pilot cases could be more informed. Issue 7 of the report suggested:
	"For pilot areas, LCS should ensure that all complaints are separately recorded as pilot complaints. Mechanisms should be in place to enable tracking and monitoring of ongoing progress to inform the end of pilot evaluation".

British Coal Compensation

Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 21 April (WA 222—3) concerning their plan to provide the Law Society with details of claimants in the Coal Health Compensation Scheme, (a) how many such claimants there were; (b) how many claimants' details have been provided to the Law Society; (c) how many claimants have been contacted by the Law Society; and (d) what was the outcome of those cases.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The LCS continues to engage solicitors on a bilateral basis on the issue of inappropriate deductions and has been encouraged by a number of responses received in relation to redress. We understand that the first phase of the scheme saw 3,643 in the Rother Valley contacted, with approximately 10 per cent of those contacted registering a complaint. Phase two of the scheme has led to 11 firms provisionally agreeing to write to their clients, amounting to a total of 306,872 claims.
	Once the position has been further established, the LCS intends to commence a staged mail-out to remaining claimants of those firms not willing to co-operate with them. To assist the LCS in its planning assumptions, BERR has provided statistical data on claimants by solicitor and constituency. Once a firm plan has been established BERR will be providing the individual claimants' contact data to them. I also understand the LCS has continued to work with individual Members of Parliament engaged in the resolution of these issues in their constituencies.
	Both the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will continue to work with the LCS, the LSCC, the Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO), coalfield MPs and other bodies, to ensure that all claimants under the coal health scheme understand their rights to redress through the LCS where deductions have been made wrongfully from their compensation awards.

Children: Commissioner and UN Convention

Baroness Walmsley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the Children's Views and Interests Team in the Department for Children, Schools and Families became the Children's Commissioner Sponsorship and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Team; and
	What are the functions of the Children's Commissioner Sponsorship and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Team; and whether any of these functions did not apply to the Children's Views and Interests Team; and
	What number and grade of civil servants work in the Children's Commissioner Sponsorship and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Team; and
	How the Children's Commissioner Sponsorship and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Team relates to similar teams in the devolved administrations.

Lord Adonis: The Children's Views and Interests Team changed its name to become the Children's Commissioner Sponsorship and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Team in September 2007, to reflect the team's main functions.
	The Children's Commissioner Sponsorship and UNCRC Team's functions are: central government sponsors for 11 Million (formerly the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England) non-departmental public body; policy responsibility for the role of the Children's Commissioner for England; co-ordination of the UK Government's report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; and, co-ordination of the Department for Children, Schools and Families' Children and Youth Board. The team also manages a number of grants to external organisations made through the department's Participation Fund and the Children, Young People and Families Grant Programme. These functions also applied to the Children's Views and Interests Team.
	The Children's Commissioner Sponsorship and UNCRC Team is made up of three civil servants: one grade 7, one senior executive officer and one executive officer.
	The Children's Commissioner Sponsorship and UNCRC team regularly liaises with counterparts in the devolved Administrations. On the basis of information supplied by officials in the devolved Administrations the numbers and remit are comparable to the Children's Rights team in Scotland and the wider remits of the Rights and Entitlements Team in Wales and the Children and Young People's Unit in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland.

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act: Offences

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will issue guidance as to whether the act of filming an extreme sexual act, as defined by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, may constitute participation for the purposes of the defence in Section 66 of that Act.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Section 66 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act provides a defence for those who participate in an act or acts portrayed in extreme pornographic images with the exception of bestiality images or images of necrophilia which depict a real corpse. The defendants must prove, on the balance of probabilities, that they directly participated in the act or acts portrayed in the image and that the act(s) did not involve the infliction of any non-consensual harm on any person.
	The defence cannot be claimed by onlookers and this will include those filming an activity if they are not also participants in the activity.

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act: Offences

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On what date they will bring Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 into force.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The current planning date for implementation of Sections 63-67 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which make illegal the possession of extreme pornographic images, is January 2009. The date will be confirmed nearer the time.

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act: Offences

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they will issue guidance to the police and the Crown Prosecution Service concerning the implementation of Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008; and whether they will promulgate this guidance to the public.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The police and the Crown Prosecution Service will each develop their own guidance for implementation of Sections 63-67 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. The Explanatory Notes for the Act are already available on the Office of Public Sector Information website at: www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/en/ukpgaen_20080004_en_1.
	The Ministry of Justice will also provide further information about the offence for members of the public closer to the date of implementation, which is currently planned for January 2009.

Education: Minimum Leaving Age

Lord Lucas: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many additional places for each kind of qualification they expect to have to provide to accommodate the increase in pupils resulting from the extension of compulsory education to age 18.

Lord Adonis: We were already planning on the basis of our existing aspiration for 90 per cent participation among 17 year-olds by 2015. With compulsory participation, our modelling suggests that, nationally, this does not require a big expansion of places. Our current estimates indicate that there will be around 15,000 more 16 and 17 year-olds in schools in 2015 than there are this year and all of this growth is accounted for by the already planned growth in academies, most of which will have sixth forms. Of course, it does not follow that all new demand will go into academies, rather we will need to make sure that every young person has a suitable place in learning and the balance of provision across the system will cater for that. In FE, we estimate that in 2013 13,000 additional places will be needed compared to this year, and in 2015 another 31,000 will be needed. Demographic changes will vary between local areas and local authorities will need to use their own projections to plan accordingly. We do not have modelling on additional places by kind of qualification. However the Government have committed by 2013 to providing young people with an entitlement to a diploma place, and an entitlement to an apprenticeship place for those who meet the entry requirements.

Health: Blood Tests

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many National Health Service patients in England and Wales are referred annually to hospitals for blood tests.

Lord Darzi of Denham: This information is not collected centrally.

Health: Communicable Diseases

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people in the United Kingdom they estimate to have been infected with a communicable disease as a result of charging for treating persons not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom.

Lord Darzi of Denham: This information is not available. However, under the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended, no charge may be made to anyone for the treatment of certain communicable diseases. This is regardless of whether or not the person is considered to be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, or otherwise entitled to free NHS hospital treatment.

Health: Complementary and Alternative Medicines

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they intend to implement the recommendation of the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology on Complementary and Alternative Medicines, published in 2000 (6th Report, Session 1999—2000, HL Paper 123), that the professions of acupuncture and herbal medicine should be statutorily regulated; and whether they have taken into account the effect of the European Union Traditional Herbal Medicines Directive that comes into force in 2011 on consumer choice, practitioners and industry.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The Steering Group set up by the department in 2006 to report to Ministers on the statutory regulation of acupuncture, herbal medicine and traditional Chinese medicine has just submitted its report. We intend to consult this summer on the report's recommendations and will, together with the devolved administrations, consider the report in the light of the consultation responses and respond in due course. The report takes into account the effect of the European Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products, as will our response.

Health: Orthopaedics

Lord McColl of Dulwich: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the current total annual funding for orthopaedic research; how this compares in real terms with funding in the past five years; and what plans there are for the next five years; and
	What percentage of NHS research funding is allocated to orthopaedics.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The information requested is not available.
	Over the past 10 years, the main part of the department's total expenditure on health research has been devolved to and managed by National Health Service organisations. Those organisations have accounted for their use of the research and development (R&D) allocations received from the department in an annual R&D report. The reports have identified expenditure in research programmes across some 16 national priority areas. These do not include orthopaedics.
	Details of individual NHS-supported research projects undertaken from 2000 to 2007 are available on the archived national research register (NRR) at: https://portal.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/NRRArchiveSearch.aspx.
	The NRR was superseded in January 2008 by the United Kingdom Clinical Research Network's portfolio database available at: www.ukcrn.org.uk/index/clinical/portfolio_new.html.

Health: Pain Relief

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the International Narcotics Control Board make its estimates of global demand for pain relief medication on the basis of the previous year's consumption.

Lord West of Spithead: The International Narcotics Control Board's estimate of global demand for pain relief medicines reflects estimates submitted by individual countries which are usually based on the previous three years' consumption but also take into account any emerging trends.

Health: X-rays

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many National Health Service patients in England and Wales are referred annually to hospitals for X-rays from single-doctor surgeries.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The data are not currently collected in England. There are no plans to collect the data in the future.
	Welsh health services and the data they collect are the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government.

Justice

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 21 May (WA 197—201), whether they will ensure that the Answers appear in the Official Report; why it was decided to respond only by letter in the Library of the House; who took that decision; and on what basis.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The noble Lord asked 34 Questions. Placing a letter in the Library of the House enables the Government to provide the fullest possible Answers to them.

Parades: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	With reference to the annual report of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission for 2006—07, for what and to whom the following sums were paid: £459,007 on exceptional items; £102,570 on mediation; and £57,007 on legal costs.

Lord Tunnicliffe: The sum of £516,014 was paid to HMRC and represents full settlement of the department's liability for the Commissioner's income tax and national insurance contributions from 1997-05. A credit movement in provision of legal costs in the sum of £57,007 (as explained further below) was deducted which gives a balance of £459,007.
	The sum of £102,570 related to the costs of facilitating mediation processes to help resolve local parading disputes.
	In 2006-07 £250,000 was provided for legal costs stemming from a judicial review. During the year £70,599 was paid for these legal fees and a further £122,394 was accrued for agreed legal costs. As a result the remaining £57,007 was written back to the income and expenditure account.

Parades: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In each of the past five years, what funding awards have been made by the Northern Ireland Parades Commission; to whom; for what; and who made the selection.

Lord Tunnicliffe: I have been informed by the Northern Ireland Parades Commission that the following funding awards have been made in the past five years by the commission:
	
		
			 Organisation Purpose Amount Date 
			 Evangelical Contribution on Northern Ireland (ECONI) Funding towards the cost of summer school to explore the nature of political, religious and cultural identity in NI. £3000 27.08.03 
			 East Tyrone College of Further Education Training Courses for Marshalls. £3470 10.05.04 
			 Greater Shankill Community Council Training Courses for Marshalls. £681 29.06.06 
			 Greater Shankill Community Council Training Courses for Marshalls. £373 29.06.06 
			 Short Strand and Lower Woodstock Community Groups International School for Peace Studies—Messines Visit. Exploring event of WW1 and encourage participants to embrace the principles of Messines experience. £10,316 29.06.06 
			 Greater Shankill Community Council Training Courses for Marshalls. £364 03.08.06 
			 Greater Shankill Community Council Purchase and printing of High-Visibility vests. £654 12.10.06 
			 Crown Project Follow on venture of the group to the International Peace School at Messines. £2312 08.11.06 
			 Short Strand and Lower Woodstock Community Groups Facilitation of evaluation re International School for Peace Studies programme £300 10.11.06 
			 Short Strand Community Forum Messines residential between Short Strand and Woodstock Road groups in a neutral area. £2804 24.11.06 
			 Ballymaconnelly Flute Band Educational night to help promote the aims and objectives of the band. £330 02.10.07 
			 St James' GAC Cross community Children's sporting event to foster better community relations incl cross community band. £500 09.10.07 
			 Maghera Parish Caring Association Planning and establishment of a mediation process. £7325 15.10.07 
			 Upper Ardoyne Youth Centre Cross community visit to Messines. To encourage participants to embrace the principals of Messines. £11,175 16.01.08 
			 Shankill Women's Centre Study visit to Messines as above. £10,763 05.02.08

Parades: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why £102,570 was spent on mediation by the Northern Ireland Parades Commission during 2007; and why nothing was spent in 2006, according to figures presented in the body's annual report.

Lord Tunnicliffe: The expenditure, incurred in 2006-07, related to a number of new mediation initiatives established to help resolve local parading disputes. The mediation expenditure incurred in 2005-06 was included under other expenditure for that financial year.

People Trafficking

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What procedures exist to ensure that victims of human trafficking who are repatriated have access to relevant civil society organisations in their countries of origin.

Lord West of Spithead: Victims of trafficking who have no basis of stay in the United Kingdom may be repatriated either via the government-funded voluntary assisted returns programme run by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) or as an enforced return. However, voluntary returns are always the preferred option; removal action is only ever considered as a last resort. Victims of trafficking are routinely encouraged to make use of the assisted voluntary return (AVR) programme available to them.
	The IOM's network of offices work in co-operation with local non-government organisations and generally provide specialist reintegration assistance for victims of trafficking where necessary. The assistance may include shelter, medical assistance/psychological counselling and vocational training. IOM monitor the provision of such services themselves. However, the availability of such services in a given country depends on what sort of provision the Government of that country have agreed can be made available.
	There is no post-return monitoring or sustainability programme for those persons who choose not to return as part of an AVR package and whose subsequent removal from the UK is enforced.

People Trafficking

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether France has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings; and whether they are discussing with the Government of France the best methods of coping with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the Calais region who wish to enter Britain.

Lord West of Spithead: France signed the convention on 22 May 2006 and ratified on 9 January 2008. Unaccompanied children seeking asylum in France would have their cases considered by the French authorities. We co-operate on a daily basis with the French authorities where they request this.
	In addition UK officials have regular contact with French counterparts on the management of juxtaposed controls and have, as part of those discussions, covered the question of unaccompanied children around Calais. This includes co-operation on an assisted voluntary return information project run jointly with France, the UK and with International Organisation for Migration as well as discussion with between the law-enforcement agencies on tackling illegal networks which can target children.

People Trafficking

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What consideration they are giving to the funding of safe accommodation for victims of human trafficking, in addition to that provided by the Poppy Project.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Poppy Project received additional resources during Operation Pentameter Two to help with capacity building. This resulted in service level agreements with 17 third sector organisations across the country. We have funded the Poppy Project to continue with this capacity building work this year. The Government are currently working with stakeholders to test and consult on the support requirements for victims trafficked into forced labour.

Planning: Barker Review

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Andrews on 19 February 2007 (WA 192), whether they have set out their response to the Barker review of land use planning; and, if so, what is their response to the four questions posed.

Baroness Andrews: The Government welcomed Kate Barker's report published in December 2006, agreeing with her overall analysis. Our response to her recommendations was set out in the White Paper, Planning for a Sustainable Future, in May 2007, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
	In response to the noble Lord's Questions on green belt policy, I can tell him that the Government are committed to the principles of the green belt and will make no fundamental change to policy in this area; a point the Prime Minister reiterated last July.

Planning: Eco-towns

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On how many occasions Ministers and officials have met representatives of private construction companies to discuss the development of "eco-towns", and which construction companies were involved.

Baroness Andrews: No Ministers or officials have met with representatives of private construction companies to discuss the development of eco-towns, unless they are a bid promoter. In taking forward the shortlisted eco-towns schemes officials are meeting with promoters to explore issues related to their bid, and through the Eco-towns Challenge Panel each of the promoters is being challenged on their eco-town vision and how they intend to deliver it.

Planning: Eco-towns

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On how many occasions Ministers and officials have visited the site of the proposed "eco-town" at Elsenham.

Baroness Andrews: The Government are currently planning a programme of visits for the Housing Minister and officials, to all the shortlisted eco-town locations. These will take place over the next couple of months and this will include the eco-town site at Elsenham.

Planning: Eco-towns

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What estimates have been made of the amount of carbon dioxide that would be emitted during construction of the proposed "eco-town" at Elsenham.

Baroness Andrews: Like all the shortlisted eco-towns, the proposal at Elsenham is going forward for further assessment and consultation. Eco-towns will need to be zero-carbon across the whole development and promoters are developing further proposals on minimising carbon use in other aspects of the development.

Planning: Eco-towns

Lord Rotherwick: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What criteria and processes were used in selecting the 15 shortlisted sites for eco-towns; and
	Whether the criteria used for selecting the 15 shortlisted eco-town sites carried equal weighting; and, if not, what was the weighting; and
	Whether the criteria used for the eco-towns scoring were the same for each region of the country and
	Whether the eco-town sites were scored against each other; and what were the criteria used.

Baroness Andrews: The process and criteria for selecting the shortlisted eco-towns are set out in the eco-towns prospectus, which we published on 23 July 2007 alongside the housing Green Paper. Copies of the prospectus are available in the House Library.
	These tough and challenging criteria were applied to all the sites, and the Government have already rejected more than 40 proposals. The bids going forward are those that performed most strongly in an initial scrutiny across government and its agencies in terms of transport and environment issues, affordability benefits and deliverability against the eco-towns criteria. A summary of the issues for each of the shortlisted locations is set out in the consultation document Eco-towns—living a greener future, copies of which are also available in the House Library.

Planning: Eco-towns

Lord Rotherwick: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	At what level in the Department for Communities and Local Government the final selection of potential eco-town sites was made; and who made that decision.

Baroness Andrews: The decision on the shortlisted locations to go forward for further assessment and consultation was made by Caroline Flint, Minister for Housing and Planning on the basis of advice from officials, and in consultation with ministerial colleagues in other departments.

Police: Northern Ireland

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How much night cover the Police Service of Northern Ireland provides in the Clogher Valley area of Northern Ireland; and whether they will increase such cover.

Lord Tunnicliffe: The chief constable has provided the following Answer.
	The Police Service of Northern Ireland provides a 24-hour, seven days a week response service to every area in Northern Ireland. Where analysis indicates, additional neighbourhood policing, tactical support group and roads policing officers will be deployed to support response policing or to address specific problems.

Prisoners: Housing and Resettlement

Lord Dholakia: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many prisoners with no fixed abode were released in each of the past five years.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Prison Service has key performance targets for sentenced prisoners being released to an address or settled accommodation for five years since 2003. For the first four years the measure was for releases to an address and data on the number of releases without an address are as follows:
	2003-04—39,784 discharges without an address. (45.6 per cent of all sentenced discharges);2004-05—21,604 discharges without an address. (25.2 per cent of all sentenced discharges);2005-06—12,209 discharges without an address. (16.2 per cent of all sentenced discharges);2006-07—4,541 discharges without an address. (5.8 per cent of all sentenced discharges); and 2007-08—the key performance target was strengthened to measure sentenced releases to settled accommodation. Performance is as follows: 90,314 sentenced discharges of which 76,779 (85 per cent) were released to settled accommodation.

Prisoners: Housing and Resettlement

Lord Dholakia: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many prisons in England and Wales have (a) a housing advice service, and (b) a resettlement team providing advice to individual prisoners.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The National Offender Management Service and HM Prison Service have a resettlement strategy which includes the development of prison-based housing advice and support services. Resettlement teams operate in all prisons across England and Wales and accommodation advice is now available in all local prisons and all prisons which release offenders into the community.
	This is reflected in the success that the prison service has had over the past five years in dramatically reducing the number of sentenced offenders being released with no address to go to.

Railways: Rolling Stock

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they have made of the amount of rolling stock which will be necessary to meet the December 2009 timetable commitments; how much of this is likely to be available; and whether sufficient will be available to avoid breaching overcrowding standards.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: It is for the train operators to ensure that they have enough rolling stock to meet their timetable commitments.

Schools: Teach First

The Earl of Listowel: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What the impact of Teach First has been on teacher recruitment and retention.

Lord Adonis: Since 2003-04 Teach First has recruited 1,094 high class graduates of which 742 completed the programme. Over 40 per cent of the first cohort and about 50 per cent of the second cohort opted to remain in teaching.
	The Prime Minister announced on 23 June that the programme would double in size from 2008-09 to 2012-13, annual recruitment will rise from 380 to over 800.

Trade: Francophone Countries

Viscount Waverley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When and where a United Kingdom Trade Minister has visited non-Commonwealth Francophone countries in order to promote United Kingdom commercial interests over the past four years.

Lord Bach: As part of a wider programme of visits to support and promote British commercial interests overseas, the Minister for Trade and Investment and his predecessors have visited the following countries covered by the Question: France (September 2004, January 2005, March 2006, December 2007); Morocco (January 2008); and Tunisia (July 2004).

UK Border Agency

Baroness Hanham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the financial savings to the Government expected to come from the creation of the UK Border Agency.

Lord West of Spithead: The UK Border Agency has a published target in its current business plan to deliver 5 per cent year on year savings over the financial years 2008-09 to 2010-11 against its 2007-08 baseline. The UKBA 2008-09 budget is expected to be in excess of £2 billion, although details of the budget transfer from HMRC are still being finalised.

Youth Custody: Outdoor Exercise

Lord Carlile of Berriew: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which youth custody institutions have had an increase in outdoor exercise facilities since 1 January 2007; and what additional facilities have been provided.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Since January 2007, Rainsbrook secure training centre has built a new secure climbing wall; Hassockfield, Oakhill and Medway secure training centres have introduced new activities to make better use of their existing outdoor facilities.
	Clayfields House secure children's home has built a new BMX track; Aycliffe, Barton Moss, Orchard Lodge, Sutton Place and Vinney Green secure children's homes have upgraded and improved their current facilities.
	A new all-weather pitch came into use at Warren Hill young offender institution in March this year; a new all-weather pitch has been commissioned at Cookham Wood young offender institution: this should be available for use later in the year.